


First Birthday

by Micte



Series: All we are [3]
Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Baby, Birthday, Family Feels, Gen, Jupiter Ascending Fic Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:10:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4993264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Micte/pseuds/Micte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The furry ball of joy's first birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The request

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the 4th Jupiter Ascending Fic Challenge "Happy Birthday". Is meant to have three parts that are almost finished but still need a little fixing here and there. Anyway, i wanted to post the first chapter so it can be included in the main post of the challenge in tumblr :)

Jupiter takes advantage of Kiza’s weakness for Max’s big eyes (as she had well predicted) and goes up to her room to keep on planning a birthday party for a one year old baby that would never appreciate the effort. But who is she kidding? She knows this is mostly for Nino’s benefit, who would love to see him all dressed up and for her mother, who couldn’t wait to pull on his pointy little ears.

 

_My poor baby._

 

So she starts thinking about food and guests and she has already taken Diomika’s crew to some Earth restaurants but for some reason they have never tried her family’s cooking before…

 

And then her sheave lightens up to alert her about a message from Maledictes.

 

“Shit,” she murmurs, her fingers hesitating over the buttons for a moment before deciding that she’d rather listen to it along with Caine.

 

She runs down the stairs trying to remember exactly when was the last time she saw Kalique in person: she was still pregnant and they met to seal the contract that would shut down the Denebola Refinery, which meant that the Al Geiba’s tersies were safe from the harvest. Jupiter has not forgotten that they’re supposed to meet in another six months, but in the last year her life has been more about diapers and stuffed animals than about saving planets while legal brawling with the entitled involved. Now, her life on Earth and her space obligations are about to collide. Again. She doesn’t know what to expect.

 

She’s about to call her husband’s name when the image of her baby boy leaving his kneeling dad behind to run to Kiza’s arms takes her breath away. It’s been a few months since he started walking but those are the most assured and enthusiastic steps he’s ever managed so far.

 

Stinger nods while Caine claps in celebration as the blonde takes the baby in her arms.

 

“Soon you’re going to steal your daddy’s boots, right baby-bee?”

 

“Soon he’s going to be able to hunt you down if you keep talking with that weird voice,” says Stinger noticing that Jupiter’s by the stairs, holding the sheave in her arms.

 

“It’s not weird, is cute. And baby-bee likes it, don’t ya?”

 

“What’s wrong Jupiter?” asks Caine getting up from the floor. He caresses Max’s head and ruffles Kiza’s hair on his way to his wife.

 

“Maledictes sent me a message and I… don't want to listen to it alone?” says Jupiter showing the sheave and noticing that once she says it out loud, it sounds a little stupid, “Sorry, I panicked. This is silly…”

 

“Of course it’s not,” says Caine bending a little to kiss the top of her head.

 

“Do you think this is about the Vinde deal?” asks Stinger getting up from the couch while Caine takes the sheave to play the message, “Maybe she wants out this time?”

 

“I don’t think so. She’s the one getting richer every time I cancel a harvest…”

 

Once the message is set, Caine touches the device behind his ear and pixels gather out of nowhere to form Maledictes in the middle of the living room “Greetings, your Majesty and Mister Caine Wise,” says the projection, giving an exaggerated vow that gets the attention of the tiniest Wise in the room. Kiza lets him go to stand by Stinger’s side, looking attentively at the splice’s image, “I took the liberty of sending you a message in the name of Lady Kalique, requesting an audience at your Earth Alcazar in regards of her new sibling’s first birthday. My Lady is eager to introduce herself and to offer him gifts that will fit a proper welcome into the Abrasax family. Please, let us know what date and time suits you the best,” his head goes down again and Max decides that he wants to grab it, “Have a good night, your Majesty, Mister Wise.”

 

The projection disappears and Max falls to his knees, looking around confused.

 

Jupiter exchanges worried glances with the others unaware of the resemblance with her son as she picks him up from the floor. For a few silent seconds Caine looks at her and nods in a reassuring way that helps her calm down and get a hold of herself.

 

“Can we vote this? I think we should vote this,” says Kiza and everybody (even Max, who’s to playing with Jupiter’s hair) looks at her questioning, “What? Are you seriously thinking of letting an Abrasax near our baby-bee?”

 

“Kiza…”

 

“Dad, I’m the royal nanny and you’re practically his grandpa!”

 

“This is Caine and Jupiter’s decision and we’re going to support them,” he says in a low growl to make clear that his verdict is final, “and your Majesty can request as many cruisers from the Aegis as you want, if you’re doing this...”

 

“You really think she’s actually planning something?” asks Jupiter half smiling, not wanting to believe that this could be an evil scheme from Kalique; not after all those years.

 

“Tots!” exclaims Kiza in such a juvenile way that Jupiter has a brief flashback of when she was eighteen.  

 

“You’ve been working together for years now, your Majesty, but for an Entitled a decade passes in the blink of an eye; it means little,” Stinger explains patiently, trying to ignore Kiza’s attempts to engage him in an argument.

 

Jupiter drops her lips absentmindedly against her son’s forehead; she always forgets that for her and Kalique, the concept of ‘ _time_ ’ couldn’t be more different, “What do you think, Caine?”

 

Her husband lets his eyes wander over Max. The baby’s smiling widely at him, “I think…” Caine starts and takes a moment to cross his arms while lying against the wall, “that one day Maximillian will have to face a lot of mean people in the universe, no matter what he does. He might as well start doing it while we can back him up.”

 

Jupiter closes her eyes and purses her lips into a little smile “So he’ll practice with auntie Kalique…”

 

“Unless you think is better to wait, your Majesty.”

 

“Wait for what? ‘till he reaches sixteen like a debutante?”

 

“like a what?”

 

“Excuse me, _auntie_ Kalique?” Kiza crosses her arms and looks at them with the hurt of betrayal flashing in her eyes.

 

“Well, he’s not calling her _sister_ ,” Jupiter assures while walking to her, “Kalique’s old enough to be the mummy of my great grandmother’s grandma,” she puts her baby in the arms of the offended nanny and gets closer enough to whisper, “Besides, he told me himself that you’re his favorite aunt…”

 

“Okay,” she says at last, starting to pace around the living room to keep Maximillian entertained, “I’ll accept this under two conditions: One, I’m always in the room and two, she doesn’t get to hold him.”

 

“Kiza, you are our Aegis reinforcement.” says Caine while dropping his arm over Jupiter’s shoulder, “Where else would you be?”


	2. The gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the Auntie.

Jupiter makes it clear that Kalique can visit in the morning of Max’s birthday and that she’d have to leave by noon, because there are still things to get ready for the party.

 

She paces across the living room while tapping her cellphone against her open palm. She had considered inviting Kalique a day before but celebrating the birthday earlier meant bad luck and God knows her son needs all the good luck he can get. So Max would have his first space audience with an Entitled in the morning and a regular tersie-like birthday party by night, with the Russian side of the family, the Bee side of the family, Diomika’s crew and the Dunlevys.

 

It would be a _long_ day.

 

Stinger is looking at her walking around while Gemma analyses the constant flux of info showing on her sheave. Jupiter notices Stinger’s about to tell her something when the Synth announces the arrival of Caine’s ship.

 

The man gets up and walks to her, “Calm down,” he puts his hands over her shoulders so she stops pacing, “you’ve done this hundreds of times, your Majesty. And this is just a social meeting: no passive-aggressive advocates, no angry share-holders…”

 

“Yeah but this time is in _my_ home. This is like a sanctuary, you know? Away from all the space royalty nonsense…”

 

“Jupiter, you are _the_ Queen.”

 

“I know,” she whines letting her head fall over his shoulder, “I’m the epitome of space royalty nonsense…” Stinger chortles and pats her back as Caine enters the house, leaving the door open for the Synths that follow him. He raises a questioning eyebrow at the sight of Jupiter, but she only shakes her head while regaining her posture, “Tiny panic attack. Everything okay?”

 

“Yes, but there’s one detail…”

 

“I detect the presence of a Sargorn,” says Gemma raising her eyes and her gun just in time to point it at the giant lizard that followed Kalique. The Sargon and the guards that entered before take their guns too and Caine lifts his tattooed arm quickly to urge Gemma to low her weapon while Kalique waves her hand at her party, barely concerned.

 

“Please, this is no way of entering a royal Alcazar for the first time…”

 

“The Sargon is part of Lady Kalique’s royal guard,” explains Caine and Gemma’s hands hesitate, but she only puts her gun away after Kalique’s guards lower theirs, “Everything’s in order.”

 

“So this is your new bodyguard?” asks Jupiter walking ahead to Kalique and her people but looking directly at the Sargorn behind her. The Sargorn lifts her head and Jupiter does the same; she cannot let them think that their presence feels intimidating, specially _her_.

 

“Jupiter you look fantastic!” says the woman with a wide smile, oblivious of the silent showdown going in front of her, “And well… not all of us have the charm to gain the eternal loyalty of a lycantant to protect us,” Kalique’s eyes run over her husband’s body but at this point both Jupiter and Caine are well used to the woman’s innuendos and suggestive remarks to be bothered, “After the closure of the third refinery many of the people who thought you were just being eccentric and that I was being permissive started to feel nervous. And nervous people with a lot of money to lose make impetuous decisions. Miss Koat here is just a precaution.”

 

Jupiter eyes Miss Koat one more time before talking, “You could have given me a heads up about the general mood…”

 

“But you’re so cautious already! Besides I wouldn’t even dream of suggesting you hire a Sargorn bodyguard. Not after…”

 

Jupiter nods once not wanting to give Kalique the chance to keep on going with that conversation and guides her to the couch with a gesture of her hand, giving Koat a last glance before taking her seat in front of the woman.

 

_Not all Sargorns are bad. Not all Sargorns are bad. Not all Sargorns are bad…_

 

“This place is so… interesting,” says Kalique looking around with a fascination that Jupiter knows is only half pretended. It should be interesting for Kalique to visit a common house on Earth for the very first time, but she doubts the enthusiasm her eyes try to reflect every time they stop over a photograph on the wall or a toy on the floor. Jupiter and Caine’s house is a mixture of wooden chairs and tables, holo projectors, scented candles and floating orbs. It has definitely more of Earth than Orous and so Kalique and her party look like shiny characters that a fantasy world vomited into her mostly ordinary living room; Jupiter would laugh at the absurdity of the scene if this wasn’t the first time she introduced her baby boy to an entitled. “So,” Kalique continues clapping her hands in excitement, “Where is Maximillian?”

 

“Right here,” Kiza’s voice announces from the top of the stairs and Jupiter tries to hide her smile with her hand. The girl had taken advantage of the fifteen minutes she had alone with Max to change him into a bee onesie Nino had bought him for Christmas. It included a tiny hat with two pointy antennas that made him look adorable even if this was Kiza’s unashamed attempt to mark her territory; this is war and toddler fashion would be her weapon.

 

At least she has not peed on him.

Kiza joins her on the couch (always glaring at Kalique, who ignores her) and Caine stays behind them. Gemma lingers by the far corner of the room and Stinger takes a stand close to the Sargon bodyguard, shaking his head but having trouble keeping his lips straight. Maledictes mirrors Caine, standing behind his Lady.

 

“He’s so little…” Kalique breathes, her body standing over the edge of the couch, eyes fixed in the chubby little bee-boy and this time Jupiter believes her.

 

“When was the last time you saw a baby?” asks Jupiter taking Max onto her lap and planting a kiss on his black beanie, “Hi Max!”

 

“It was Titus. Ten thousand five hundred and eighty two years ago.” Kalique’s eyes go from Jupiter to her son, the amazement wearing off and being slowly replaced with something duller.

 

“Well, that’s a long time. And I can’t really imagine Titus as a baby…”

 

Max starts laughing as if he couldn’t imagine the younger and depraved Abrasax as an infant either and raises his arms to his dad. Caine smiles and reaches out to touch his little hand for a moment, but doesn't pick him up. He wouldn’t do it while on duty. And even thought this was a social visit, Jupiter knows he’d rather have his head 100% in the game, so she turns the baby around.

 

“Look Max,” she starts in that sweet whisper that embarrasses Stinger, “This is your aunt Kalique.”

 

“ _Aunt_?” Kalique’s mask of perfections cracks for a second and her outrage is visible for everyone in the room.

 

“Got a better explanation for a one year old?” Jupiter’s eyes dare her to confuse her child at this early age and even though Max doesn’t have the linguistic capacities to find out just how messed up his life will be yet, Kalique nods in agreement.

 

“Did it hurt?” she asks instead, clearly making an effort to regain control of her voice. It takes Jupiter a moment to figure out she’s talking about giving birth.

 

“Oh yeah. It was bad but I’ve had other painful experiences before…” she thinks about being hit with a pipe in a crumbling building on a burning planet, but keeps it to herself.

 

“Would you do it again?” This time she speaks with more energy and the question takes Jupiter by surprise.

 

“Oh… God. I… maybe?” she glances over her shoulder and sees Caine shifting his weight uncomfortable behind her, “We haven’t decided it yet…”

 

This seems to satisfy Kalique’s curiosity, “I’m willing to bet your second child will be a girl,” she says, proud eyes setting over Max and Jupiter knows exactly what she’s thinking, but she’s tired of having this conversation over and over again. She’s not Seraphi and her first born being a boy is just a coincidence. Maximillian is not Balem and he would never be.

 

Jupiter can feel Caine’s tension and she’s sure that if it weren’t for the ridiculous social rules he wouldn’t have a problem taking over _this_ conversation, so she’s quick to change the subject, “Maledictes said you had presents...?”

 

“Yes! Titus asked me to bring his present too since we all know he cannot get close to your galaxy without being shot.”

 

This time, Caine asks, “ _He_ sent a present?”

 

“And you’ve already seen it Mister Wise, it is the ship I came in. I wanted to be sure that my brother’s intentions were pure so I had Maledictes supervise its verification and then I flew it myself to Earth. I can guarantee you, it is in excellent conditions.”

 

Jupiter ignores the mental image of Kalique flying a ship by _herself_ because that’s not the most absurd thing she has just said, “He sent a _spaceship_? For a baby?”

 

“To his brother… I mean, _nephew_ ,” Kalique’s left hand touches her lips as her clever eyes flicker for a second to Kiza’s, which shine golden as a warning, but then continues, “Shall we go see it?”

 

After a brief and intense whispered exchange with Caine, Jupiter accepts and Stinger informs the Aegis that they are boarding Kalique’s transportation but that no ship is allowed in or out of Earth just yet. As they move to the front garden to float into the ship, Jupiter notices Max’s eyes fixed in awe on Miss Koat’s imposing figure, walking a few meters behind them.

 

“I think he likes her,” murmurs Caine. The concern on his face mirrors Jupiter’s.

 

“And we just ruined dinosaur movies for Max forever…” she groans trying not to think about an older Max, sitting on an iron throne, surrounded by Sargorns…

 

_He’s not Balem. He will never be Balem._

 

Jupiter’s hold on her son tightens as both groups explore the ship together. It is not as big as the cruiser where she was once kidnapped but Titus’ presence can be felt on the golden floor, the explicit pictures on the walls and the exuberant statues decorating every room and hallway. Some of them have Titus’ face and others have Seraphi’s.

 

“Kiza, remind me to get rid of those…” murmurs Jupiter, trying to keep her voice low so it wont resonate in the wide boardroom they just entered.

 

“Maybe Caine would like to keep the one with the… wait, what’s that?”

 

Jupiter comes to a halt, not wanting to get near a box that’s placed at the dark end of the room, obviously intended to be found.

 

“I’d like to apologize beforehand about Titus’ second gift,” starts Kalique putting a hand over her chest, “Usually he makes some effort with the presentation but this last decade…”

 

“What is it?” Jupiter interrupts her and Caine takes the lead, gun in hand. Gemma and Stinger follow him and as they get closer she can see the box is actually a cage with something moving inside.

 

“I told him that this was lazy but he insisted…”

 

“Is a splice,” says Stinger kneeling by the cage and the little creature inside whimpers and crouches as far away from him as possible.

 

“A lycantant,” Caine’s voice seems calm but still it manages to echo through the hall and Jupiter shivers because she knows him well enough to distinguish between her husband and the legion legend that should never be crossed, “female.”

 

“It’s for Maximillian. His first domestic,” explains Kalique.

 

“It's a girl,” Jupiter realizes at last, feeling dizzy. Still, she manages to speak casually, as if she just found the kid while playing hide and seek under the bed instead of caged in the dark and, apparently, scared to death. At first it’s hard to reconcile the idea of a child with the image in front of them because she has never seen a person in a cage, but everything makes sense quite quickly when she figures out this is Titus, sending a message: a little splice girl with dark long hair and even darker eyes. She’s wearing a golden sparkling robe that shines through the cracks of the opaque metal of the bars around her. She is mostly silent, except for the occasional frail whines that scape her chest every time her eyes change direction; she’s clearly disturbed. At first sight, she’s physically unhurt, but her demeanor suggests something more. Something horrible.

 

_This is what he thinks of Caine and Max._

 

The silence extends and Jupiter turns slightly, making sure Max is looking at Kiza’s shocked face instead of the cage.

 

“My gift is so much better,” Kalique gets closer to her holding a sheave, completely oblivious of Jupiter’s blank expression or Caine’s trembling fists, “I knew you’d complain if I gave Maximillian his own planet system now, so I thought I could give him a moon this year and the rest as time goes by. This is Mirzam.”

 

The sheave projects a blue holo of a planet with three moons, the tiniest of them shining more than the others. Jupiter observes its movements, wondering how Kalique can consider that a galaxy could be a slightly exaggerated gift for a one year old, but that the same baby should totally get his first slave.  

 

She notices Stinger’s worried look over Caine, who is clearly making an effort to keep his emotions in control through his rough breathing. And she’s been silent for a really long time now and the lycantant girl’s still inside the cage.

 

_Jupiter do something!_

 

“We’re getting out of here.”

 

Caine turns his head slowly to look at her and she understands the unspoken question right away.

 

“You’re not pleased with the gifts, Jupiter?” Kalique’s enthusiasm fades away. Her concern about Jupiter’s feelings is real, but the woman shows no compassion for the trembling child in front of them. Jupider considers for a second shouting out her thoughts, using all the mother authority (Bolotnikov style) that’s been growing up inside of her for the last year and showing Max for the very first time what awaits him if he ever thinks of disappointing her as badly as Kalique just has.

 

_For an Entitled a decade means little._

 

But that’s what Titus wants and Jupiter decides that this is not worth it. Is not her job to try and change their minds or clean after their mess: she’s not their damn mother.

 

“Why don’t you show us the rest of the ship while Gemma and Caine take the girl to the Aegis?” she says smiling as if Caine looking down at this little lycantant girl wasn’t breaking her heart.

 

Kalique smiles relieved and almost pushes Jupiter through the door to keep on with the tour. Jupiter gets to see Caine’s head falling back and Stinger patting his shoulder before following the party. Her brown eyes cross Koat’s grey ones for a moment and she has the feeling she’s being judged, but she couldn’t care less about the Sargorn right now and takes Kalique and her servants out of the room as quickly as possible, so that Caine and Gemma can deal with Titus’ twisted gift without an audience. 

 

As they leave, Jupiter points at the blue and yellow chandeliers floating over their heads, not wanting Max to witness the scene they were leaving behind. But she cannot do a thing about the weak and desperate cries that follow them as they keep exploring Titus’ ship.


	3. Birthday Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'It's my son's party and I cry if I want to.'

Everybody’s there except for Caine and Gemma. Diomika assures Jupiter that the little lycantant girl is in perfect physical condition but Jupiter knows that already. Titus still owns a few hundred RegenX refineries all around the universe and, half broke or not, it wouldn’t be hard for him to erase the traces of whatever he had done to that poor child…

 

_Stop. Don’t think about it._

 

She knows Max would never know if his mother was miserable during his first birthday party, but Aleksa keeps asking “is something’s wrong?” and “where is Caine?” and “seriously, I know now you can make this chocolate cake with your eyes closed and it is shit. What the hell is going on?”

 

Jupiter smiles and keeps on serving food. She knows her silence only confirms her mother’s suspicions but it also keeps the Abrasax’s affairs in orbit, away from her family, as it should be.

 

The casual conversation and music help her to keep it together for the first couple of hours, but then Jupiter spends almost fifteen minutes staring at Max playing on the floor with Julie Dunlevy, and she’s almost out of strength to keep the tears at bay when the door opens and Gemma enters the living room, followed by Caine.

 

Jupiter ignores Aleksa’s wary stare as she climbs the stairs after her husband. She panics a little when her mother leaves her seat at the table and starts marching decidedly towards them but the last thing Jupiter sees is Stinger intercepting her by the kitchen door.  

 

God bless him.

 

Jupiter enters her bedroom and Caine closes the door behind her.

 

“Tell me everything,” She asks, crossing her arms.

 

“Her name is Cephei Wezen.” Caine starts unconsciously straightening himself with his hands on his back, as if he were talking to a superior instead of his wife, “She was about to enter the Legion Training Program a year ago, when Titus purchased her…”

 

“She was going to the Legion?!” Jupiter notices she just raised her voice and continues in a hysterical whisper, “But she’s like six!”

 

“She’s five actually,” says Caine in a voice so low that she almost thinks he didn't say anything, but he knows how this affects her and he’s just trying to soften the blow.

 

From the moment she left the ship she’s had this awful feeling under her skin, tensing every muscle and nerve, so she tries to take a deep breath to regain control over her voice. She doesn't know which image is worse, the little girl starting her training to be a soldier or trapped for a year in Titus’ Clipper.

 

“So this was his plan… for over a year,” she murmurs and paces around her room, focused into hating Titus.

 

“I believe so.”

 

“How is she?”

 

“Healthy.”

 

She stops suddenly to face Caine. He’s definitely trying make her think of the bright side but his tone is grave and his eyes look somber, “What did she say? Was she still crying when you left?”

 

Caine shakes his head, “She didn't want to talk,” his eyes leave her to wander over the floor, “she just cried for hours so Gemma had her sedated.”

 

“Oh God…” Jupiter crosses the distance between them and hugs him. She hides her face in his chest, trying not to think of how Caine’s hands trembled when they found the cage. She listens to his heart instead. The beat is slow and steady but she knows he must be as tired as she feels, “How are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” his lips brush her hair and she knows he’s lying. His arms cover her and she decides not to push it today, “What about you?”

 

“Honestly?” She doesn’t want to worry him but she’s been concealing the mess inside her for too long now. She needs and wants to say it, “I feel like shit.”

 

“This is not your fault.” He assures her while rubbing her back.

 

“I know, but Titus…”

 

“You are not responsible for his actions,” his tone is final and she smiles sadly, “but you have complete control over what happens next.” Caine puts his warm hands over Jupiter’s shoulders and looks her in the eye. The sadness doesn’t go away but it stops pressing on her heart and she takes a deep breath before he asks, “What do you want to do?”

 

-.-.-.-

 

Earth’s Royal Alcazar is finally empty by two in the morning. Vladie and Moltka had a hard time leaving because they couldn’t stop asking Phylo and Nesh questions about the Aegis’ work around the universe. Jupiter suspects they want to apply and she even asks Caine if they have any chance, considering they were born on a planet meant for harvest.

 

“With your influence you could get Vladie his own fleet of cruisers, your Majesty.”

 

“He doesn’t need to know that,” she decides before announcing that the party is over. She jokes that every queen needs her beauty sleep but she knows she won’t be able to do that for a week at least.

 

But they don’t need to know that.

 

Caine kisses her and even lifts her in his arms for a few seconds before going upstairs to check on the sleeping birthday boy.

 

She looks around the living room filled with empty glasses, plates with half-eaten cake and the unwrapped presents. The memory of the chatting and laughing mixes up with Cephei’s cries of terror and when the sadness makes it hard to breath again she tries to think about what Caine said before they joined their families that afternoon:

 

_Everything will be fine._

“It will,” she tells herself before cleaning up the tears and looking at the sheave that’s laying on the coffee table, “Call Kalique Abrasax.”

 

It takes a moment to establish contact and the second Maledictes sees her face, he rushes out to get his lady.

“My dear Jupiter,” says Kalique entering the projection. Her perfect figure looking even more out of place in the darkness of the messy living room that it did that morning, “I wasn’t expecting to hear this soon from you. Is everything alright?”

 

“You know is not, but it will be,” said Jupiter with a weird tremble in her voice. The trust that she had developed for Kalique over the years is in conflict with the things she's witnessed that day, “From now on you and Titus are forbidden from having any contact with my son,” Jupiter waits to see her reaction but Kalique is frozen with confusion, so she keeps on going, “No more messages…”

 

“Jupiter…” Kalique’s hands go up, trying to stop her but she ignores her.

 

“No more visits…”

 

“This is just…”

 

“And no more presents.”

 

Kalique’s eyes shine with understanding, “So this is about the splice,” Jupiter looks at her expression, the exasperation starting to show in the way her pink lips tremble and she reminds herself that she’s not there to scold Seraphi’s children “I told Titus this would upset you…”

 

“This is about the way I want to raise my son…”

 

“Maximillian…”

 

“… and having slaves…”

 

“… is …”

 

“… out of question…”

 

“…an Abrasax!”

 

“No, he isn’t!” Jupiter screams and it makes Kalique regain her posture. Jupiter closes her eyes and tries to calm down before the discussion wakes Max up, “He’s not part of your empire.”

 

“But he will be,” says Kalique in the same simple voice she used once to explain Jupiter the way humanity works around the galaxy; the same cheerful tone in which she always described the absolute truths of the universe, “One day you will die and he will inherit _your_ part of _our_ empire,” Kalique starts pacing around, looking without interest at the boxes filled with baby toys before setting her eyes on Jupiter, “And in a hundred years it will be your descendants taking care of your ‘ _free planets’_ ,” Jupiter knows her good enough to know she’s not mocking her, but the way she says it stings deeply regardless. It’s like she’s talking to a child that’s too naïve for believing in a fairy tale, “I’m sure you’ve think about this Jupiter but you still haven’t realized that in a thousand years, after you and mister Wise are long gone, Titus and I will be the only ones here to help and guide your dynasty. Unless you’ve changed your mind about immortality, of course.”

 

Jupiter doesn’t have to answer that. This isn’t the first time they have discussed her resolution of living a normal span of life and it took Jupiter years of debating to understand how useless it is to try and explain her position on mortality to a 14 thousand year old woman.

 

“I guess not,” Kalique smiles, looking too innocent for Jupiter to believe her, “That’s why I must insist you reconsider your decision.”

 

“I’m not starting a dynasty,” Jupiter whispers, half her mind going back exactly a year ago when she told the same words to Caine in the middle of space, only minutes after Max’s birth, “I don’t want any of you close to my baby and if I do this right, I don’t need to live forever,” she knows that it hurts Kalique but she would never admit it. Jupiter’s seen it in her eyes when she met Maximillian that morning: the hope of getting back a lost brother even if he was the son of a splice. The same awe in her face as she met the recurrence of her mother even if she was born in a tersie planet. And it is always Jupiter the one who takes the dream away, “If I do this right, my legacy… that will be enough for my children.”

 

“Your children…” Kalique mutters through a clenched jaw.

 

“You were right about one thing,” says Jupiter, feeling a weird mix of sadness and defiance, “my second child _is_ a girl.”

 

They stand there in silence for what it feels like minutes and the only part of Kalique that show’s her true feelings are her wet bright eyes before her projection disappears, leaving Jupiter alone with her thoughts.

 

Kalique’s pained expression before she left without a word plays over and over again in her head, just as Cephei’s cries do in her ears.  

 

_What do you want to do?_

_I want to adopt her._

 

She thinks about the way Caine smiled when she said it, full of relief and surprise, and a little bit of the sadness inside her dissolves.

 

Not all of it, but just enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voici the end of this one!  
> I apologize for the time it took me to come around and finish it. I have trouble deciding on endings but im trying to write all of the unfinished things i left here.  
> I hope someone still sees this thing updated and it brightens they day just as it did mine when i got my inspiration back.


End file.
